The Past That Comes To Haunt
by Selene O'Kiku
Summary: Shadow believes that he'd seen the last of Maria Robotnik 50 years ago, but...what if he's wrong? This is my first story, please comment!
1. Chapter 1

**Shadow the Hedgehog**

**(Adventure Part 1)**

**By: Shadow21**

Its sunset, the pink and gold light soaking the clearing in its pure shine. A dark figure stood on the top of a hill next to a tree, overlooking the city of Westopolis. A hedgehog, black and crimson in color, with red piercing eyes. Large golden rings around his wrists and ankles, red and white hover shoes on his feet. His name is Shadow, a hedgehog created on space colony ARK by the scientist Gerald Robotnik. Today, he's thinking about his past, now that he knows some of it. _"I wonder,"_ he thought aloud, _"Maria… If you had survived…Would we have been happy?" _ He looked up into the sky, his question going unanswered. The sun finally went below the horizon, twilight engulfing the city, leaving Shadow in the dark. He closed his eyes, let out a long sigh and turned his back on the city. As he walked, he took out a large, glowing emerald and started to finger it. Suddenly, the emerald glowed violently and heated up, burning Shadow's hand. He dropped it, grabbed his hand, and checked it for any permanent damage. Finding none, he bent down to pick up the emerald, but recoiled as he still found it to hot for his touch. He straightened, crossed his arms across his chest, and then lightly kicked the annoying rock. It skidded a foot or so, and then began to shake violently. It then stood on its tip, Shadow let out a semi-almost astonished _"Hmm."_ Then it started spinning, so fast that it created a giant vacuum. It began to rise rapidly into the sky, stopping a little over the treetops. Shadow spread his feet, uncrossed his arms and tensed his muscles, just in case he needed to jump up and grab it. A bright light surged from the emerald, wide and blinding. Shadow brought up his arm in defense, protecting his eyes from the light. A gentle ringing emanated from the surging light. After about a minute, the light faded and the emerald hit the ground with a light thud. But the ringing didn't end, getting louder and louder. It got so loud that Shadow had to cover his ears to stop his head from spinning. At that moment, one last flash of light illuminated the night, and then faded into nothing. Shadow looked up at the sky and saw a robbed figure slowly falling to the ground. He uncovered his ears, took out his Shadow Rifle and slowly approached the hooded figure. It had fallen next to the emerald; the green glow illuminated the figure a bit. Shadow reached out his hand and pulled away the hood. _"It-it ca-can't be…" _he whispered. Violent tremors shook through his body, he fell to his knees, the rifle slipping form his grasp. _"M-maria…"_ he whispered at last, as he held her head to his chest.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

"What in the world was that?" said the blue furred hedgehog. The two-tailed fox boy next to him shrugged, "I don't know, Sonic. But I think we should go find out." Sonic turned to him, nodded and grabbed his wrist, "Hold on tight, Tails!" They headed through Westopolis, at almost super sonic speed, toward the source of the mysterious light. When they got to the outskirts of the city, a gust of wind hit them hard, blowing them back. They headed toward a clearing on a hill with a tree, but when they got there, they were stunned. They saw their ally, Shadow the hedgehog, kneeling next to a shrouded figure. A wicked-looking rifle was lying next to him, but his attention was entirely on the figure. "Shadow?" Sonic said, carefully inching toward him. No response. He tried again, "Hey, Shadow, are you ok?" Still no response. He got close enough to tap him on the shoulder, "Shadow?" Shadow lashed out at him, landing his fist in Sonic's face, "Get away! You won't take her, not again!" Sonic skidded a foot, landing on his side, dazed. Blood dripped from his mouth, the punch had left him with a bloody lip. He shook his head, trying to clear it, slowly picking himself up. He wiped the blood off his lips with the back of his hand, and then locked his eyes with the back of Shadow's head. "You jerk! What the heck is wrong with you?!" Sonic shouted, and then slowly walked back toward Shadow. Shadow, quick as lightning, picked up the emerald, the shrouded figure, and his rifle in one swift movement. Shouting out the words, 'Chaos Control', he disappeared in a flash of white light. Both Sonic and Tails looked around in bewilderment, did Shadow just run away? Apparently not, for he reappeared behind Sonic with his rifle pointed to the back of his head. "Sonic!!" Tails shouted out, for he feared Shadow would actually shoot his best friend. But Shadow just slowly lowered the muzzle, "You ever try that again, I swear I'll shoot you. So just leave us alone." With that he raised the rifle again and brought the blunt of it down hard on Sonic's head. Sonic fell forward, unconscious. Shadow gave Tails a cold glare, "That goes for you too, fox boy. Chaos Control!" A bright light flashed, then darkness. Shadow was gone, along with the robed figure and chaos emerald. Tails ran to the k.o.ed body of Sonic, shook him a little, and sat back. Sonic slowly stirred, holding his spinning head. "Owww… What hit me?" "The blunt end of Shadow's gun. Man, sometimes he's just too scary. Don't you think Sonic?" "No, he's just a show-off and a jerk. Why'd he have to hit me? I didn't do anything to him!" Tails looked up thoughtfully, "Maybe you snuck up on him and he didn't like it. But did you hear what he said when he lashed out?" Sonic looked at him, annoyed, "No. I can barely remember what happened 10 seconds ago!" he rubbed the back of his head, sighing heavily. Tails giggled, and then lay down on the grass. He looked up at the night sky, questions popping into his head, all concerning Shadow's odd behavior. "Shadow," he thought aloud, "What's up with you?"

"Don't worry, Maria. We're almost at the infirmary." Shadow said to the sleeping blonde girl in his arms. He was running through the hallways of Space Colony ARK, now operational because of him. He stopped in front of a panel, pressed his hand on it, and held it there. A light flashed beneath his palm, beeping all the while. A voice, mechanical in tone, sounded over the P.A., "Verification complete. Ultimate Life Form, Shadow. Access Granted." The panel sunk into the wall, a plastic pane covered it, and then the wall slid open. Shadow walked in, the lights turning on automatically, he walks up to the white-covered cot and lays the girl down on it. He then walks up to a machine, presses a button and it starts buzzing. A light, thin and concentrated, passed over the girl's body. Head to foot, the girl is scanned by the machine. The same mechanical-tone voice sounded over the P.A., "Bio-Scan complete. Subject Name: Maria Robotnik. Status: Unconscious, wound found on lower right extremity, minimal loss of blood. All other bodily functions normal, no other injuries found." Shadow's eyes widened, "Could it be… Could it really be you, Maria?" He walked back to the cot where Maria slept, and very gently shook her shoulder while calling her name. Slowly, she stirred. Her eyes fluttered open, but when she caught sight of Shadow, her eyes widened. She reached a hand out and touched his cheek. Shadow's hand shot up and held her hand in place as he rubbed his cheek against it. Tears had formed in his eyes, falling now as his beloved Maria had come back to him. Maria smiled up at him, tears also falling from her eyes, "Shadow… You survived! I'm so happy the capsule got to Earth safely. But… How did I get here?" Shadow wiped away her tears, "The Chaos Emerald must have brought you here. But… What are you talking about? What capsule?" Maria looked at him, shocked, "You don't remember the capsule? Do you remember the accident that happened on ARK? The G.U.N soldiers were killing everyone… We managed to get away. Only, I got you in the capsule before they got the chance to shoot you, then I launched it. Then… then-then…" A horrified look over came her features, "Then the G.U.N soldier shot me! If he shot me, how come I'm still alive?!" Shadow's mind was alive with memories; they all just suddenly rushed out of hiding. They were too much for him to bear, all at once. He let out a stifled cry, falling to his knees. Maria forgot about everything else, rushing to Shadow's side, "Shadow?! Are you alright?? What's wrong??" Her questions fell on deaf ears, for Shadow had fainted due to the strain from regaining his lost memories.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"I wonder… Is Shadow up in the space colony again? I should check up on him… He might have an extra emerald I can 'borrow'! Tehehe!" The bat-girl whispered. Her name is Rouge the Bat, a treasure hunter, and she was now hiding in the shadows inside Dr. Eggman's pyramid base. She sneaked her way into the teleportation room; made sure no one was around and walked to the control panel. She typed in the coordinates of ARK, stood on the teleportation panel and pressed the 'GO' key. "Shadow… And Emerald… Here I come!" Was all that was heard before she disappeared in a ray of light.

"Hey, Sonic! Whoa, what happened to you? Look's like you ran into a wall!" teased the red echidna. "Shut up, Knucklehead!" Sonic said, annoyed. Tails walked up to Knuckles, whispering in his ear, "Shadow caught him off-guard and left him with that bloody lip _and_ a huge lump on the back of his head!" "Tails!" "Sorry, Sonic! I just couldn't keep it to myself!" Tails shrugged and smiled sheepishly. Knuckles laughed, "Wow! I can't believe that red and black emo got you! Guess you can't call yourself the world's fastest hedgehog anymore!" As he kept laughing, Sonic's anger rose. A vein became visible on his temple, the corner of his eye twitched and his hands formed shaking fists. He bit his lip, (the side that _wasn't_ bleeding) and closed his eyes. He raised his fist and brought it down hard on Knuckles' head. Tears formed at the corners of his eyes, his hands grabbing his head and he gritted his teeth. He opened one eye and glared at Sonic, "Hey! Why'd you do that for?!" Sonic gave him an angered sneer, "Well, what'd you think?! You making all those stupid jokes! It ain't funny! He threatened to shoot me and Tails! May I add that it was for no reason?" He turned away from Knuckles, angered and annoyed. "Fine! I'm sorry!" There was silence for a long time, then Tails asked, "So… Where do you think Shadow went to?" He looked between the two, hoping for someone to answer him. "Knowing him, I'd say he's at the space colony, don't you?" was the answer, but not from either the blue hedgehog or the red echidna. All three turned to see a pink hedgehog standing behind them, her green eyes glowing with excitement. "Yeah! Hey Tails, could you get your space ship? I wanna give Shadow a bit of payback for punching _and_ knocking me out." Tails nodded and ran off; Knuckles rolled his eyes and began to walk away. Sonic grabbed his shoulder, "Oh no you don't. You're coming with us." Knuckles chuckled, "And why would I do that?" Sonic smiled, came up close to and said, "Because… You won't want people to know you like that bat-girl Rouge, do ya?" Knuckles twitched, "Because… It's true." "Oh, really? You got any proof?" Sonic gave him an all-knowing glance, "Yeah. It shows whenever you're near her. The blushing, the sweating, the quick temper (though that happens nonetheless), the looks you give her…" Knuckles finally snapped, "Fine! I'll go, as long as you keep that information to your self." Sonic nodded and made a cross shape with his finger over his heart, "Cross my heart and hope to die." The pink hedgehog had been watching the whole scene, and now finally spoke up, "Sonic? Can I come with you to the space colony?" Sonic turned to her, "Why do you want to come Amy? You've got nothing to do up there." Amy frowned, I want to go! I barely ever get to go anywhere with you. Plus, I like to see the planet from up there. It's been a long tome since I went last." Sonic raised an eyebrow, and then shrugged, "Alright, you can come. As long as you don't do anything to get in my way." Amy nodded, running off after Tails. Sonic looked up at the star filled night, "Shadow… Here I come."


End file.
